Noctua NH-D14 HSF Review – The Best CPU Cooler Ever?

Final Thoughts

Noctua set out to improve on their previous design and they did, and it was a noticeable improvement. The NH-D14 is bigger and heavier than its predecessor, though. With both fans installed on the NH-D14 the cooler weighs in at a whopping 1.24kg so some may shy away from it just based on the weight, let alone its overall size, but there are those that will jump on this and not think twice about it.

I really like the new 140mm NF-P14 fans. They move more air than the NF-P12 (65CFM vs 54CFM) and still operate at 19dBA at full speed. They can be found separately for $19.95 plus shipping.

Now for the cons to the NH-D14. This isnt going to be a cooler you can just stick on any board with any component. You will have to do some research. This isnt just an issue with the NH-D14, any large cooler like this will have this issue, but it is one to pay attention to. The only other con I can think of is a con that I have had from the first day I used a Noctua product: the fan color. I really like the performance, but I’m not digging the color. That being said, I still use them, but I would still love to see a black version.

You can pick up a NH-D14 for $79.99 plus shipping. Now in a slow economy it may be hard to drop that much on a cooler. I can agree with that, but it is worth the money and falls into the old saying you get what you pay for. With the Noctua NH-D14 beating out 18 other coolers on our overclocked Intel Core i7 920 processor we have to give it the Legit Reviews Editor’s Choice award! Next up to review will be the Thermalright Venomous-X CPU Cooler, so it will be interesting to see if the NH-D14 will hold onto the top stop!

Legit Bottom Line: Noctua did what they set out to do: made a new cooler that performed better and was just as quiet. If you can shoe horn it in your case, it’s well worth the money.